Biomass Powered Data Centre

Energy & Availability Calculation

Input parameters
Data centre requires: 320 kW electricity
Demand profile: constant
Tier 1 availability 99.671%

Assumptions
Efficiency of electricity conversion (2),(5): 20% Small CHP plant
Average calorific value of fuel: 13 MJ/kg
Average bulk volume of wood: 5.5 m3/te softwood chips

Boiler type expensive (3) rugged (4)

Typical maintenance interval, weeks 13 4
Typical maintenance period, days 1 1.5

Calculations
Energy
Combustion power incl waste heat = requirement/efficiency 1600 kW
Number of seconds in one day: = 24x60x60 86400 seconds
Energy input to combustion per day = combustion x sec/day 138240000 kJ/ day

Amount of biofuel required per day: = Energy / av calorific val 10634 kg/ day

Availability
Availability = 1 - (maintenance period)/(maintenance interval)
Availability Days backup power required
For expensive boiler 98.901% 4.0 days
For rugged boiler 94.643% 19.6 days

Conclusion
Biomass furnace capcity 1600 kW
Biomass could power the data centre but would require woodchips 10.6 te/day
= 58.5 m3/day
But even the best boiler does not have the required availability
Backup power always required 4-20 days per year

Energy yield calculations

Assumptions:
Softwood is slower growing so assume half the yield poplar or willow in terms of yield per hectare per ye
Dry matter energy yield 18 MJ/kg
Energy yield of seasonal wood 13 MJ/kg
Crop yield 6 te dry matter / ha/ yr
Proportion of finished wood for chippings 50%

Calculation:
Factor for dry/seasonal weight: 0.722 te dry matter per te delivered chips
 Annual mass of woodchips: 3881.4 te seasonal wood
Annual dry mass in those chips: 2803.2 te dry matter (= mass x factor)

No of hectares = te dry matter /(proportion chips x yield per ha)

= 934.4 ha required
About 950 ha of managed conifer forest required to fuel this plant
BUT 50% of the output is high-value finished wood,
only the offcuts are chipped

Waste Heat Calculation

If electrical conversion efficiency is only 20%, waste heat will be available at high temp (50-60 deg)
Assume unrecoverable losses incl heat for drying woodchip etc 15%
Max Waste heat recovered = 1-losses - electricity prdn 65%

Total energy available per quarter = data centre power x

plant availability/electr efficiency x13 x7 x24 3456000 kWh
Total for waste heat avaliable per quarter
= Energy x recovery efficiency 2246400 kWh

Space heating energy required per person (8) 24 kWh/pp/day

Factor for for Northerly climate 1.15
Assumed no of people per household 3
Heating & hot water required for house per quarter 180835.2 kWh per q
No of households to be supplied 12.4
 Biomass feedstocks analysis (5)
Biomass
Data used:

Table of calorific values for solid biomass (2)

MJ/kg Wood
Green wood 8 Wheat straw
Seasonal wood 13 Barley straw
Dried wood 16 Lignite
Dry vegetation 15 Bituminous coal
Crop wastes 12 to 15
Cow dung 13 to 15

Bulk volume of wood products (5)

Biomass Bulk volume
m3/te
Hardwood chips 4.4
Softwood chips 5.2-5.6
Pellets 1.6-1.8
Sawdust 6.2
Planer shavings 10.3

Energy yields per ha (5)

Biomass Crop yield Higher H Energy yield
Val
dmt/ha/yer MJ/kg, dry GJ/ha
Wheat 14 12.3 123
rms of yield per hectare per year Poplar 10-15 17.3 173-259 20 years to maturity (7)
Willow 10-15 18.7 187-280
Switchgrass 8 17.4 139
Miscanthus 12-30 18.5 222-555

Electricity from wood (6) 110

"1 hectare (2.46 acres) broadleaved woodland should produce about 5 tonnes of fresh logs a ye
Conifers and cherries have a life of 40-60 years'
Source (7)
s feedstocks analysis (5)
Moisture Volatile Fixed Ash Lower
Matter Carbon Heating
Value
(%) (%) (%) (%) (MJ/kg)
20 82 17 1 18.6
16 59 21 4 17.3
30 46 18 6 16.1
34 29 31 6 26.8
11 35 45 9 34

s to maturity (7)

out 5 tonnes of fresh logs a year".

Data Sources

Sources: (1) Twidell, J; Weir, T: Renewable Energy Resources, 2nd ed; Taylor & Francis, London, 2006
(2) Boyle, G; Everett, B;Ramage, R: Energy Systems and Sustainability, Oxford University Press, 2003
(3) Site visit to Queen Margaret University 1.5MW Biomass boiler, engineer from Buccleuch Environmental
(4) Site visit to Pentland Plants Biomass 2MW Biomass Boiler, engineer from Pentland Biomass
(5) McKendry, P: Energy production from biomass (part 1): overview of biomass, Bioresource Technology 8
(6) McKendry, P: Energy production from biomass (part 2): conversion technologies Bioresource Technolo
(7) Royal Forestry Society: http://www.rfs.org.uk/learning/harvesting accessed 12 April 2010
(8) MacKay, D J C: Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air, Cambridge University Press, 2009 pg 53

Availability data - from convrsations with site engineers:

Source (3) 1.5MW boiler, run at constant load
Runs only on well graded woodchip fuel
High degree of controls and waste heat reuse
Designed for low maintenance
2 yrs old, no breakdowns yet
Expensive, expected life 15-20 years
Preventative maintenance, shut down 1 day/quarter

Source (4) 2MW boiler, load fluctuates from30-100%

Runs on any fuel from woodchip to chicken dung
Lower attention to contol & waste heat
Rugged construction, simple
3 years old, at least one major breakdown (backburn)
Engineer called out to fix something 1-2 times a month,
Typical down time = 1 day;
Min shutdown time is hours for cooldown & hours setting
of cement if new liner bricks have to be installed in boiler
 rancis, London, 2006
Oxford University Press, 2003
eer from Buccleuch Environmental Services , 24 February 2010
from Pentland Biomass
biomass, Bioresource Technology 83 pp37-46, 2002
echnologies Bioresource Technology 83 pp47-54, 2002
essed 12 April 2010
University Press, 2009 pg 53